Catch Up

Well, it has been a while since my last post but things have been really busy here.  Firstly, I started a new job on the 6th of April - I have decided to have a go at contracting and have managed to find something that is only 10 minutes from home.  Not sure at the moment how long it will last - 3 months, 9 months... 

The main reason for being busy is that Duncan and myself decided to do another round of renovating on our bungalow.  We decided that it was time to finish the work we started in the kitchen 3 years ago and sort out the back bedroom (our main bedroom).  We also give ourself 6 weeks in which to complete the work...!

Before...

Both rooms needed wallpaper removed and then re-plastering.  The carpet in the bedroom was removed and a new floor laid in the kitchen.  This was followed by painting in both rooms and then putting up some tile is in the kitchen.  It was hard going but thanks to some amazing work from Duncan's Mum Sue and our brilliant friends Emily and Matt, we managed to finish the bulk of the work before our self imposed deadline.  Only thing to do now is put some shelves and notice boards up in the kitchen and shelves, carpet and pictures in the bedroom.  

After...

Strangely Sad Day...

It was a bit of an odd day yesterday...

I am being made redundant from my current job and, although my official end date is March 31st, yesterday was the last day that I plan on going into the office.  

This is not a sudden thing as the lay offs are due to a merger and not the credit crunch, so I have had quite a while to get used to the idea - I even have another job lined up!  Still, it was very strange leaving my desk for the last time (hopefully!) and handing my security pass into reception left me feeling a bit melancholy for the rest of the day (that is until I beat it out of myself in the gym last night - i'm going to hurt tomorrow...!)

Sowing the Seeds...

I finally managed to sow some seeds this weekend.  I had been wanting to start doing this for a little while now but have resisted as long as I could as there is still a lot of prep work that needs to be done in the garden before I can plant into it.

As we had visitors I couldn't do too much, which is good in a way as it will hopefully mean that everything isn't ready at the same time.  I have also started keeping a journal of what I sow/plant and when and will update it with any changes (in theory any way!)

On Saturday I sowed two different types of Tomato, some Aubergines, Sweet Peppers and four different types of courgette.  Sunday I sowed some chilli seeds that I had gathered from some plants I grew last year - Naga, Jalapeno, Bulgarian Carrot and Fatali.  They are all tucked up, nice and cosy, in the heated propagator. 

This morning I sowed some Spring Onions, following a tip from the Grapevine, the brilliant gardening forum I use.  I have sown two varieties, Shimonita and Red Beard.

Loads more to do but I will keep plodding away.  We purchased a cultivator at the weekend so this should speed up digging the beds, which is great as I would like to create another four of varying sizes (including one for a herb garden)! 

An Achievement...

I went to the gym tonight (this is not the achievement as I usually go 3 times a week) and had a very good workout.  To provide a little more interest and motivation, the guys at the gym having been setting us various challenges - towards the end of last year it was to complete 50 or 75km before the Christmas party using any of the Cardio equipment (I managed to complete both challenges in the allotted time! :o))  The current challenge is to complete 1200, 1800 or 2400 ab exercises between the beginning of February and some date towards the end of March (can't remember the exact date!) - My OH, Duncan, decided to put us both down for the 2400 reps.  Due to the snow and me having a pretty heavy cold, we both started the challenge late but tonight I managed to complete the final 270 reps that I need to reach target (Duncs still has about 250 reps to go..!)  I am now going to see how much of the other two amounts I can finish before the time runs out...

First Post... (I've finally done it...)

Well, I have been thinking about doing a blog for a while now but have only just got around to setting one up..!

On here I hope to report on the progress of the house renovations, the state of the garden and how my weight loss is going - with a little luck putting it all down for others to see may be just the incentive I need to get things sorted.

I have decided that if I am going to bore everyone with my tales of woe concerning my attempts to lose weight I had better give the current state of play. Stepping upon the scales this morning I found that I currently weigh a whopping 16st 4lbs (this is 228lbs or roughly 103kg) - not bad considering I am only 5'3" (really not good if you know how to work out BMI's - I do know btw...!) I can assure you that I have not been idly sitting by but that I am put through my paces at the gym three times a week (for upto a hour each time). Food remains a little bit(!?) of an issue so I am trying to cut down on wheat and sugar and making sure that I have breakfast everyday, shortly after getting up. I also have to say that I am not delusional as the why I am overweight - from leaving school to when I joined my current gym I did very little exercise and ate far more then I needed to...